So this past April, my wife and I moved into our first house. It's a fully-remodeled split level with a full, finished basement. The entire house is just under 2000 sq feet. The basement is accessible by a fairly wide stairwell just off the living room.
We currently cool and heat using central air throughout the house (basement as well). We generally keep the basement vents shut in the summer, as it stays relatively cool down there as it is. And if we're running heat when it's cold, the basement is generally the first thing to get toasty.
As far as efficiency goes, I think our house is pretty decent. We've yet to pay more than $100 a month on cooling the place. The same goes for heating it, in the first few months of our moving in, although that was after the worst of winter had already passed.
Given that we have a fireplace, we thought it would be nice to utilize it in the winter.
We recently had our chimney inspected and it was given a squeaky-clean bill of health. We had recently read that installing a wood-burning stove/insert heated much more efficiently than just using the fireplace.
We went to our local shop who suggested the Buck Model 80, given the dimensions of our fireplace.
I've read posts from others who say that burning a wood stove in their basement does wonders for heating the rest of their house (or at least the most 'lived-in' parts of the house), and I've read other posts where doing so essentially turns their basement into a sweat lodge, and doesn't do much for the rest of the house.
And I'm curious: What factors determine whether or not purchasing a fireplace insert would be a good idea?
I'd hate to spend all that money to have one installed, only for it to make the basement unbearably hot, and have no effect on the rest of the home.
I could post photos of our layout if that would help.
We currently cool and heat using central air throughout the house (basement as well). We generally keep the basement vents shut in the summer, as it stays relatively cool down there as it is. And if we're running heat when it's cold, the basement is generally the first thing to get toasty.
As far as efficiency goes, I think our house is pretty decent. We've yet to pay more than $100 a month on cooling the place. The same goes for heating it, in the first few months of our moving in, although that was after the worst of winter had already passed.
Given that we have a fireplace, we thought it would be nice to utilize it in the winter.
We recently had our chimney inspected and it was given a squeaky-clean bill of health. We had recently read that installing a wood-burning stove/insert heated much more efficiently than just using the fireplace.
We went to our local shop who suggested the Buck Model 80, given the dimensions of our fireplace.
I've read posts from others who say that burning a wood stove in their basement does wonders for heating the rest of their house (or at least the most 'lived-in' parts of the house), and I've read other posts where doing so essentially turns their basement into a sweat lodge, and doesn't do much for the rest of the house.
And I'm curious: What factors determine whether or not purchasing a fireplace insert would be a good idea?
I'd hate to spend all that money to have one installed, only for it to make the basement unbearably hot, and have no effect on the rest of the home.
I could post photos of our layout if that would help.
